You Say Jump, I Say How High?
by CheekyBrunette
Summary: "'No, Jeff. You wanna do this? You wanna do this, then fine, but you're not doing it alone,' Nick said, prepping himself for the fatal jump off the building. Jeff just kept looking at him, bug-eyed." Because Nick and Jeff do everything together, and Nick wasn't going to be left alone. Warnings: Suicidal Thoughts, Cursing No Characer Death


**Herp, derp, derp…**

**Okay. I just need a one shot to get back into the swing of things. I intend for all Niffs to be updated by Friday, though. So don't be worried. And I'm going to do it, too. Cause I'm determined! YUS.**

It was fifth period by the time the whispers got to him. _Did you see the blond kid up on the roof? What's he doing up there? There's a bunch of guys with him… That one _has_ to be Blaine. Do you think it's a Warbler thing?_ Nick frowned. If it had been a Warbler thing, then he would have been called, but there weren't any messages on his phone from Wes, David, or Thad. Nick bit the inside of his cheek and sat down at his usual seat in Chemistry, waiting for Jeff to come in and take the desk next to him.

Except, Jeff didn't come to class.

And he didn't come to lunch either.

And then the whispers from earlier caught up with him. _Did you see the blond kid up on the roof? _No, he hadn't, but now Nick thought that maybe he should try to spot the guy because Jeff was gone and something about this wasn't sitting right with him. Especially because half of the Warblers were also absent from their usual table, and Nick didn't know where they would have gone. He ducked over to the cafeteria windows and saw a shock of blond hair on top of the west wing. Well… shit. That was Jeff. _What's he doing up there?_

You know how sometimes things look bad, and you immediately jump to the worst possible scenario? Nick was really trying not to do that. However, something was off about Jeff's blurry stance in the distance, and that one really _did_ have to be Blaine, and the others were definitely Wes, David, and Thad who hadn't texted him, and he was pretty sure he had spotted Trent up there, too. Why were they on the roof? Without him? That didn't make sense…

And Nick figured the building must have moved out from under him, because he wasn't sure how he made it to the stairs marked "roof access", but he wasn't complaining because he had obviously _missed_ something if Jeff, the six to his three, was up on top of a building with all of their best friends partying without him. At least, Nick hoped it was a party.

Except, it definitely wasn't because when Nick opened the door to the roof, Jeff started _screaming_. "You called _Nick?!_ You'd _promised_. You'd _promised!"_ And Nick was confused because Jeff invited him everywhere, and they always wanted to be around each other, and why was Jeff standing so freaking close to the edge of the building, didn't he know that was _dangerous_? His friends were babbling words back to Jeff as the blonde screamed, and the second Nick started talking, everybody else was silent.

"What the heck? Jeff, no one called me, I saw you up here from the window," he explained, gesturing in the cafeteria's direction. "What's going on? Why don't you want me here?" he questioned, but no one answered him. Well, not out loud, anyway. His friends just tensed with tear tracks visible on their faces, and Jeff just stared back at him harder than anyone had probably looked at him in his life, and Nick had just realized that sometimes that worst possible scenario was actually right.

"I'm still jumping," Jeff muttered, and it was Nick's turn to scream.

"The _hell_ you are," he screeched, trying to run forward, but Wes and David worked together to grab him by the arms and wrench him backwards, his feet kicking through the air as he continued to attempt to rush to his Jeff. An exceptionally sadistic part of his brain reminded him that without Jeff, he wouldn't have anyone to work with like Wes and David, and that made him feel prematurely alone. Well, maybe it wasn't so premature, cause even if Jeff was _right there_, he definitely wasn't _his_ Jeff anymore. Or right now. He wasn't smiling or giggling, and if you had told Nick five minutes ago that Jeff could possibly stand _anywhere_ without a stupidly stupid miss-able grin on his face, then he'd probably just laugh.

"Don't scare him off," Wes whispered in his ear, voice more of a whimper than anything else, and reality hit Nick like a bag of bricks. Jeff was unstable, so that meant he couldn't be. He yanked himself away from Wes and David, but stayed rooted to where he stood, calm rushing over him just because that's what he needed to be and that's how everyone else seemed, despite the dire situation.

"Fine," he hissed, before turning back to Jeff, his whole demeanor softening. "Jeff… _why_?" he asked, and Trent sniffled next to him, but Nick couldn't be bothered to turn to see if he was crying because what if Jeff decided that second to jump off of the dorms and Nick managed to miss the last couple moments of his life? The blond looked down -either at his shoes or the ground too far below him, Nick couldn't tell- and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't answer for a few minutes, which was fine with Nick. He didn't really want to hear the answer anyway.

"I just… It's all so hard now, Nickpea… I can't… I can't keep up anymore, and… and everything feels so _big_, and I'm… I'm _so small_, and I feel like… like it would be easier for it to end," Jeff said, and Nick wasn't sure what scared him more: the calm way Jeff said it or how the blonde would seem to break apart every couple words and forget his place. He looked like he was in _pain_, but that couldn't be what he was feeling. They were best friends. Nick would know; he would _know_.

Except, maybe they weren't best friends. Because Jeff hadn't wanted him there; he had heard him screaming. He was mad when Nick showed up, but for some reason he let Blaine, Trent, Wes, David, and Thad on the roof with him, so what did that mean? Why wouldn't Jeff want to spend his final moments –which Nick refused to think of them as, Jeff was _not_ jumping off ten floors of dorm, no way in _hell_- with him? Why not him? Why not his best friend? Why not _him_? "Why not _me_?" he choked out, and Nick vaguely realized he was crying and that Blaine was holding his wrist comfortingly. Jeff met his eyes, and while he didn't look that much different than usual –same muddy green eyes and same soft features- to Nick he looked an emotional mess because that's how well he knew Jeff, so, damn it, why not him?

"What?" the other boy questioned, and Nick gagged as he tried to swallow and somehow ask what he needed to.

"Why not me, Jeff? Why didn't you tell _me_? Why didn't you call for _me? _Why are you up here without _me?_ We do everything together, so why. Not. _Me?_" he asked, a thousand and one emotions swirling about in the pit of his stomach, but he only revealed frustration in his tone. Jeff bit the inside of his cheek before looking up at the sky.

"Cause you'd try to stop me," he answered. Nick clenched his fists at his sides, and shook his head, something deep inside of him breaking apart and grinding to dust cause whatever the hell it had been definitely wasn't ever going to be fixed. He swiped away at his tears angrily because now that he realized he was crying, he wasn't going to continue, and he laughed.

"What are you talking about, Jeff? We do _everything_ together," Nick replied, and before anyone could stop him, he hopped onto the ledge of the roof a couple feet down from where Jeff was standing. His roommate's eyes widened as he recoiled from Nick slightly; obviously, he had not been expecting this change in events.

"Nick, what-"

"No, Jeff. You wanna do this? You wanna do this, then fine, but you're not doing it alone," Nick said, prepping himself for the fatal jump off the building. Jeff just kept looking at him, bug-eyed. "Don't give me that look. What else would you expect me to do, you selfish twat? Live without _you_? I haven't gone a day without you since we met, and I don't fucking intend to." Tears continued to annoyingly roll down his cheeks, and Nick was mature enough to realize he wasn't as angry as his words and voice played him off as –he was just so _upset. _But being upset seemed like the weaker option.

"Nick…" he heard Blaine whisper from behind, but Nick didn't care what he had to say. He only cared about Jeff, who didn't seem to be taking the current situation well.

"Threesies, you can't _jump_. You have a _life_ in front of you, y-you c-can't… y-you… you…" Jeff couldn't seem to get anymore words out, sobs getting in the way, but Nick didn't really mind. He still had a lot to say.

"I _had_ a life in front of me, Sixes. _Had_. I can't…" he took a breath and calmed himself as much as he could, bitterly swiping again at the tears that refused to stop rolling down his face. "You're so _stupid_. You're stupid to think that we couldn't have gotten through whatever you're going through another way together, but since this is apparently the only solution, then let's just fucking jump. We're a 'we', Jeff; there's no life without you, so if you're going, then I'm going, too."

"J-just let-let m-me go," Jeff hiccupped, and Nick flailed his arms out, completely distraught. He wasn't angry anymore; now he was just a mess, and he figured that showing it couldn't be that bad of a thing. Here he was, seconds from death; he figured he was entitled to being a bit more emotional than any guy really ever should be in public.

"Why… why wouldn't you _talk _to m-me? I… I could have _helped_. J-Jeff…" Nick was inching closer to Jeff on the ledge, but the blonde wasn't moving aside from the occasional sob from the thought of a dying Nickpea that wracked his body. "Why did you l-let it go this far? I… I could have b-been there for you m-more than th-this. Je-eff…" He raked his hands through his hair and found himself right next to the bawling boy who didn't seem to be answering. Nick laced his fingers with Jeff's. "On the count of th-three, okay? J-jus' l-like me, okay? Okay? One… T-t-two… Th-th-"

"Oh, shit, Nicky, _no_," Jeff demanded, yanking Nick backwards of the ledge with him. Suddenly, there were about six people completely encasing him, and Jeff's face was buried in the crook of his neck. "I c-can't… it can't be you, Nick, not ever y-you," he wept in the middle of the Warbler group hug just loud enough for Nick to catch it. He hummed into Jeff's ear.

"It can't ever be you, either."

**Well. Angstier than expected, but… NO REGRETS! Hope it wasn't too ridiculous, but, like… can't we all see Nick going with him? Even if it might have been just a ploy to get Jeff down… or was it? Maybe? Maybe not? **

**Reviews are my crack, so if you don't mind being an enabler… ;D**


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